Whether it is on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, consumers are opting for video content over all other content choices. According to Animoto’s 2015 Online and Social Video Marketing Study, video marketing is playing a larger role in customer acquisition and engagement with four times as many consumers preferring to watch a video about a product over reading about it.

The Rise Of Video Content

While 14% of those surveyed could remember the last display ad they saw, 80% could recall a previous video ad. For companies like Sunshine that want to show their audience how a product like their weather app can be used can benefit from using video since 80% of consumers surveyed preferred this type of content to learn.

Other results from the study illustrate the value of having a content marketing strategy that includes specific content messaging for videos, including elevating the brand in the minds of its audience:

• 63% of consumers say companies that use video know how to reach their customers.

• 56% of consumers believe that a company should have video content on its website.

• 84% of consumers say they have liked a company video that has appeared in their news feed, and nearly 50% shared a video on their social media profile.

• 56% of consumers have watched a company video that came through their email, and 43% are more likely to read email newsletters that include links to video content.

For those companies that want to leverage this insatiable desire for video content, there are certainly plenty of platforms now available. One of these getting attention in this new age of video content advertising is Tout.

Although it may be surprising that retired NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is an investor, sits on the board, and even chose Tout as the platform to announce his retirement over all the major media outlets, Shaq will say otherwise: “I have always wanted to be at the forefront of things and invest in those companies that offer something that can change people’s lives. I was impressed what I saw with Tout because it reminded me of the advancement of life. We’ve moved from caveman drawing pictures on the walls to writing to now video with Tout leading the way in that evolution. Plus, what you may not know about me is that I’ve always been a geek, including being an early investor in Google. Now that I’m retired, I am looking forward to getting involved in more companies like Tout that are creating a technological legacy.”

While starting as a general consumer social media platform for short videos, the company has now formed relationships with dozens of media outlets, such as The Wall Street Journal, BBC, ESPN, and Bloomberg. These outlets are looking to leverage more visual assets to immerse readers in their news and engage audiences, thereby leveraging more of their digital content, increasing readership, and ultimately driving more advertising revenue.

In explaining what this new age of video content advertising really means, Michael Downing, CEO and cofounder of Tout, stated, “Agencies and brands alike are investing further into strategies that include branded programming or native video advertising. This is a way to create highly compelling video programming that has a branded presence elegantly integrated into the program itself. What's different from two to three years ago is the democratization of both production and distribution. Instead of being controlled by a select few networks and studios, it's wide open.”

“Touting” Unique Technology For Video Content Dominance

Beyond its exclusive partnership with top-tier publications, driving Tout’s growth is a unique technology platform that leverages existing content. The technology is designed to scan and analyze text-based articles, identify contextually relevant videos, and programmatically insert video into the content. Developed by SRI, a non-profit organization that provides breakthrough ideas and innovations to address the challenges of today’s world and the same organization that brought us Siri, this technology is providing Tout with the ability to gain video content dominance for those companies that seek it out as a solution.

Tout sees this technology as just the beginning to what will become a tremendous shift in the world of content creation and in user preferences. As Downing further explained, “We are a visual species who processes thousands of times more information visually by reading text or listening to something. The world around us is just now catching up to that and beginning to reflect this more accurately. We've only scratched the surface with video. The promise for what it holds for brands and advertisers is tremendous. The sheer volume and depth of highly specific, niche video content available online gives us a preview of how we will all search, discover, and learn about new information in completely different ways than previously.”

While he noted that "Content is King" has been the theme of today, it will no longer reign in the future. Downing sees it being replaced by "Context is King" as the ultimate truth. The future he describes will be one where video content is infinite and infinitely available and one where the process of actually finding, placing, and consuming the right video at the right time becomes the big challenge for everybody.

For those companies that have yet to catch onto the need to provide video content, time appears to be running out before this technological legacy advances onto the next stage in content evolution and life as we know it.

@steveolenski is among the most influential writers in the space. Dubbed The CMO Whisperer & Distiller of Truth, he writes about marketing/advertising/branding in one way, shape or form.